Looking for Harmony

New technology could bring record stores
into the digital age. Why hasn't it?

By

Jason Fry

Updated July 15, 2002 11:59 p.m. ET

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

Imagine this: You walk into a record store looking for a CD -- say, Bruce Springsteen's 1973 "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle." The record store doesn't have it, but there's no reason to leave empty-handed.

Kiosks in the store offer information, including song previews, album art and reviews, about thousands of U.S. releases -- many more than are in...